


you really got a hold on me

by greauxup



Category: Stardew Valley (Video Game)
Genre: Aftermath of Violence, Character(s) of Color, F/M, Fluff and Angst, Humor, Implied/Referenced Child Abuse, Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder - PTSD, Romance, Slice of Life, Slow Burn
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2017-03-08
Updated: 2017-04-04
Packaged: 2018-10-01 03:28:20
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 4
Words: 12,800
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/10179632
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/greauxup/pseuds/greauxup
Summary: "Why did you move away? To run away from your problems? What a coward"Safiya moves into her grandfather's farmhouse after feeling like she needed a change of pace in her day to day life. But there is more to it than that. Safiya has to reflect on herself and her life so far and no one said that'd be easy. She moves to a town where people have their own problems and along with them she learns how to grow as a person.





	1. Moving In

_“I don’t understand why this has to happen,” said Safiya tearfully holding her grandfather’s frail hands._

_“Safiya you are the only one who visits me in this hospital, thank you so much” replied her grandfather weakly. The sky was dark and little bits of frost peppered the windowpanes of the hospital._

_“Laila would have come if she could you know?” said Safiya quieter this time. Her grandfather nodded sadly, he couldn’t bring himself to get angry at her, time was not at his side and he didn’t want to leave this world feeling resentful. Safiya wiped the tears from her eyes as she stood next to her grandfather’s hospital bed. She had missed work just to be next to him and keep him company and she at least wanted him to have a peaceful passing._

_“Safiya” he whispered weakly not having enough strength to use his full voice, “I have a gift for you”._

_Why on earth would he give me a gift in a time like this? she thought as he pointed to a strange envelope on the table next to his bed. Safiya didn’t know the reason for this gift but she accepted it anyway as she tucked the letter into her messenger bag._

_“I trust you the most with my most prized possession” he said as his life drains. “Safiya you and your sister are the only family I have left, one day I hope you find your own family,” he smiled weakly. His grip on her hand weakened as the monitor on the screen goes flat. Safiya froze for a second not knowing how to comprehend the situation and the fact that her grandfather’s hands have gone cold. Safiya couldn’t do or say much as the nurse pulls the cover over her grandfather’s face_

* * *

It wasn’t a particularly exciting day at one of the numerous Jojacorp office buildings. The soul-crushing atmosphere coupled with the lifeless and overworked employees complimented each other in a sadistic way. In Safiya’s case it’s mainly work and talking to her coworkers who most likely don’t care for her anyway and only wanted to talk to her because she was related to Laila.

“Have you seen your sister lately? She’s making it big!” exclaimed one of her coworkers. Safiya turned her head and nodded slightly. Yes of course she was proud of her sister but there was always a feeling of inadequacy when people praised her sister. Laila got to be on well-known magazine covers and in music videos with popular music artists and Safiya works in a small cubicle and couldn’t even afford a quarter of all the gifts Laila received from admirers and from her job.

“You know, it’s kinda funny. Your sister is so beautiful and well-known and there's nothing but good things happening in her life. And, well… look at you,” chimed in another coworker. Safina’s smile twitched, but her fingers continued typing, since she knew he was a bit of a pig anyway. Nonetheless, he kept talking, as though his opinion mattered. “I can’t even tell that she’s your twin, you both look so different” he added. Safiya gritted her teeth and continued typing, she can get by the day without any conflict she’s been doing this for as long as she can remember. “Hey, maybe one day you’ll get on her level if you just start smiling more,” he said as he patted her on the back, and began walking to his cubicle.

“Fucking sleaze” Safiya muttered under her breath. He was unbelievable. Safiya stopped typing to lay her head on the keyboard of her monitor. Yes she knows she’s not as beautiful or as charismatic as her sister and she doesn’t want to let that bother her but deep down she feels almost inadequate when people mention her and Laila. Safiya takes a deep breath and continues typing up whatever she needed to type. Her work day was almost over she can look forward to going back home and sleeping or she can go to the bar near her apartment and engage in her favorite pastime.

* * *

If there’s one thing Safiya liked about the city was the walkway to her apartment. Granted, the apartment itself wasn’t the best looking apartment ever but there was a certain charm about her small one bedroom apartment that she always looked forward to. She liked how she decorated the place with the funds that she has. Safiya enjoys the small things in life like that. The sky started to darken and the air felt chillier and that prompted Safiya to quickly rush to her apartment. The apartment seemed a lot bigger ever since Laila moved out. This small apartment was all they could afford and although there wasn’t a lot of space there were a lot of good memories that came with it. However, Safiya remembered what one of her coworkers said and her good mood promptly changed to sadness.

 _Why couldn’t I have been like her_ , she wondered. Although she knows that her sister had her own trials and tribulations she can’t help but feel a bit of envy whenever people mention her name. Laila was successful, beautiful and she had an aura that made people want to come and talk to her. Safiya didn’t have her charm or even her legendary smile and she was a nobody who works in a cubicle in one of the biggest corporations in the Ferngill Republic. She is a cog in the machine and not as interesting or as fun as her sister. Safiya rubbed her eyes and wanted to find some spare money in her safe for her nightly bar adventures. Safiya decided to just change her clothes and put on a little bit of makeup as she fumbled her safe’s dial. When she opened her safe she noticed a large envelope sticking out between the numerous objects she held dear to her. After her grandfather’s death, Safiya couldn’t bring herself to open the envelope that was gifted to her and because of that she never bothered to tell her sister about her grandfather’s prized possession. Carefully, she opened the letter and tried her best not to rip the envelope cover. Inside was the deed! To her grandfather’s farm no less.

 _Why would he trust me with this?_ she questioned, His farm was his pride and joy, he can’t possibly see me as a capable farmer. Safiya can give a lot of reasons why she would be a terrible farmer and her grandfather entrusted this huge responsibility on her. Just as she was about to put the deed back in the envelope she noticed a folded up sheet of paper.

“There’s just more and more stuff to find” Safiya commented. As she opened the piece of paper she realized that this was a letter addressed to her.

 _Dearest Safiya, if you’re reading this, you must be in dire need of a change. The same thing happened to me, long ago. I’d lost sight of what mattered most in life… real connections with other people and nature. So I dropped everything and moved to the place I truly be_ _._

Tears formed in Safiya’s eyes as she continued to read the letter. It was almost as if he knew something like this would happen to her and because of that he wanted to gift his own farm to her if she ever felt like the place she currently stayed at sucked the life out of her. She stood up and pondered her grandfather’s offer. It wasn’t easy. There are a lot of things she would have to give up. She already had a stable job and she would have to give up all she knew to go live in a place that she’s only visited once.

 _Life has many doors Safiya, one day the right one will open for you,_  Safiya remembered what her grandfather told her when Safiya felt like her life was going nowhere. Maybe this deed is one of those doors. After about an hour of thinking Safiya made up her mind and decided to move out of the city and into her grandfather’s old farmhouse.

* * *

The journey itself took a lot longer than she had expected. She could have sworn that Stardew Valley wasn’t that far from the city but to be fair she had only visited once, when she was six. The bus ride is long and Safiya felt like she had spent seven hours on that bus. But in reality it was probably two. Safiya didn’t have a car and she didn’t want to bother her sister and the bus was the only way to get to Stardew valley. Safiya tried to push the seat back but to no avail, the seat could only go back so much.

 _There’s not a lot of people on this bus,_  she thought, _Maybe Stardew Valley is some weird ghost town with a population of 40_. This was something she had to get used to. After what seemed to be about half a day of being in that bus she looked outside and saw an old man in a bright green shirt with an even brighter yellow tie and beside him was a woman with red hair. She had strong arms and a welcoming demeanor about her. The fact that they looked so friendly threw Safiya off. She wasn’t used to this. Not even her landlady was this welcoming to her when she first moved into her apartment. When she got off the bus the two people went up to her as if they already knew who she was.

“Welcome to Pelican Town, I’m Lewis” said the old man with a large grin on his face “I’m the mayor so if there’s anything wrong please let me know”. Safiya froze; the mayor of the town is taking time out of his busy schedule to welcome her to this town. This was new to her.

“And I’m Robin, The town carpenter” the red haired lady said with a bit of pep to her voice. It was really odd for Safiya to see someone who was excited to see a complete stranger, she barely knew her. She looked around the area; it didn’t seem densely populated to say the least. There were houses here and there but Safiya knows that there are suburbs bigger than this town. It feels like she’s never been here before.

“I know this is not what you’re used to but I really hope you’ll be happy to call Pelican Town your home,” said Mayor Lewis. He really tried to make her feel welcomed and she appreciated it but she didn’t know what to make of his gesture.

“It looks like nice town so far,” said Safiya. She wasn’t lying when she said that, the town had a slight charm to it despite its size Lewis’s smile got bigger when she said that.

“I’m glad you like it!” he exclaimed “You know me and your grandfather we’re really close when he lived here”. Safiya felt her mouth twitch as he said that and hoped he didn’t notice but it was too late.

“Oh… I’m sorry his death really hit you hard” he said more solemnly this time. “He used to talk about you all the time and he always looked forward to seeing you and Laila”.

Safiya tried to keep her composure and nodded in agreement. She had vague memories of this small town and most of it was mostly spent inside the farmhouse rather than the whole town. Both the Mayor and Robin walked her down to the farmhouse.

When they reached the front door of the farmhouse Safiya didn’t expect the memories of her grandfather to rush to her so quickly but she managed not to tear up in front of them.

“Ah the moving van will come in tomorrow morning!” said Robin. “I’ll get my son to help you unpack your stuff” when she said that Safiya was a little thrown off. Robin didn’t look that old and she managed to have kids. Safiya could have sworn she was at least in her mid twenties.

“Well my job here is done for now” said Mayor Lewis “I’ll see you tomorrow and oh! Just a reminder that in two days we’ll have our annual flower dance” he added as he and Robin walked away from the farm.

 _Flower dance? Oh god do I have to do something for it?_ Safiya wondered. Dancing seemed like a strange thing to do in a town she just moved into. _Maybe this is like a welcome thing that people do around here_.

* * *

“I feel really bad for the girl, to lose the most important people in her life. I can’t imagine it,” said Mayor Lewis sadly.

“What do you mean?” asked Robin.

“Her grandfather told me about her and her sister, what they went through… wasn’t pleasant”

Robin looked at him with a confused look on her face. Whatever that girl went through to make Lewis say that about her must have taken a toll on whoever was involved. Robin looked back at the house and felt a little bit more curious about the new townsperson. Maybe she’ll add something to this sleepy little town that she didn’t know about.

“She seems like a nice girl though, I think she’s very pretty”

“Robin, don’t try and adopt her”

“We’ll see” Robin replied with a mischievous smile on her face.

Robin couldn’t wait to properly introduce Safiya to her son.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This is my first time writing fanfiction for a fandom I really like. I kinda changed a little bit from what actually happens in the game because there isn't really much of a story to it. It's a little rough around the edges but I hope I get better. Thank you for reading and feedback is greatly appreciated!


	2. Fi as in fee

_“I bought those donuts you like!” yelled Laila to Safiya as she entered the apartment._

_“Oh thanks sis!” replied Safiya leaving the couch to grab the many powdered donuts in the box that Laila was carrying. Despite having a lot of work both sister’s always find time to catch up on their day or just talk. They really value their time together and it’s something no one can take away from them._

_“Man, working at a grocery store really does a number on your arms” said Safiya stretching_

_“I can imagine”_

_“I just wish I had free time to do my own thing in between all this work” Laila paused at that thought and glanced over at Safiya’s music equipment. She knew all the things they had to give up to move out together and as depressing as it sounds, that included leisure activities. “It’s alright though, L” Safiya said, “We’re both doing all we can, and that’s good enough for me”. Laila smiled feeling reassured. Both sisters sat on the couch, continuing eating donuts, sharing stories and banter. Time seemed to slow down when they both were having fun. When the box became empty, Laila took a deep breath and Safiya looked at her sister with an air of concern._

_“Hey Saf, I know it seems a little random springing this on you but…”. Safiya’s heart starting beating fast. She didn’t get a good feeling about this._

_“I got the contract!” she squealed surprising her sister._

_“Holy fuck, I thought you were going to say something bad like we were getting evicted or something!”_

_“No! Not at all!” replied Laila. Safiya couldn’t believe this, she was so happy for her that all she could do was hug her sister. Laila always wanted to be a model and despite people telling her that being a model was way out of her league and that you had to have a certain look to make it big, Laila continued working hard going from agency to agency until finally finding one that accepted her._

_“So... what happens from here?” asked Safiya._

* * *

Safiya rubbed the crusts on her eyes as her alarm started ringing. She remembered that the moving van would come at around 10:30 and she woke up at 7. That gave plenty of time for her to take a shower, cook breakfast and properly clean the house. The farm house had a sort of rustic vibe to it and Safiya giggled at the thought of modernising the interiors of it. Adding her stereo downstairs and setting up a little area in her bedroom for her music. Hopefully farming gives me a lot more free time than before, she thought to herself. Safiya stepped into the shower and turned on the water. It was always a hassle trying to wash her hair as it grew so thick and long, maybe at some point she’ll consider getting a haircut since she’s going to spend most of her time outdoors and all having long hair will do is trap heat on her neck, making the whole farming experience more difficult. At least for now a bun will do.

After her shower she had to get dressed. A lot of her clothes were clothes that people walked around in the city but Safiya finally settled on a t shirt that advertised the Zuzu City fashion week she got for free because of Laila and a pair of ripped mom jeans that she rarely wore. Safiya tied her hair up in a bun and left her bedroom to make some breakfast. Since she just moved in Safiya heated up a microwave dinner and decided to have that. She knew it wasn’t healthy but she didn’t have a lot of options. Safiya wrote a reminder on her phone to buy groceries tomorrow. While waiting for her food to heat up she looked around her grandfather’s house. There were a lot of pictures of him and her grandmother and a photo of Safiya, Laila and their parents. It felt like a splinter pricked her heart every time she looked at photo’s of her family. Safiya wanted to take all of those photos down but if she did so she felt like she disrespected her grandfather’s memories of them. They weren’t bad memories but given the circumstances she was put in, she would rather not think about it. Safiya remembered her and Laila always played outside of the farmhouse and would regularly run around having little adventures in the forest area of the farm. Her train of thought was soon interrupted by the sound of the microwave beeping, letting her know that her food was done. Safiya ate at the small dining area in the kitchen. Something about it seemed so domestic. As she was eating she checked the time on her phone; it was 9:45. Safiya groaned in annoyance, there wasn’t a lot to do and time didn’t seem to pass at the pace that she wanted. She was used to things being faced paced and rushing out of her apartment going to work while stopping at a coffee shop near the building where she worked at to eat breakfast. Now, she has to make her own breakfast, lunch and dinner. To be fair, dinner wasn’t that difficult for her to make but she still felt a little uneasy about her new lifestyle change.

When her breakfast was done, Safiya decided to go outside to check out the farm before the moving people and Robin arrived. The day was gorgeous. The sun was shining and Safiya could see the little animals that inhabited the farm fly to the trees or run into the bushes. The land itself looked untouched, Safiya had to remove some grass and trees to clear space for an area to grow crops. Wow manual labor… who would have guessed, thought Safiya. She had never worked on anything that required her hands getting dirty. Her clothes would be considered basic by city standards but now she lived out in the country where clothing syle probably didn’t matter to most people.

It was already 10:30 and the moving van still wasn’t here. What’s taking them so long, Safiya wondered. There couldn’t be traffic no one seemed to pass through this area. Pelican Town wasn’t densely populated in fact she would almost classify it as remote if she wanted to be harsh. That doesn’t make the place a bad town to Safiya however, a small town meant that it was a thriving community and that everyone was close to each other. She was basing this off of other people’s experiences. Safiya never really lived outside of the city.

At 11 o’clock the moving van finally arrived along with Robin and what appeared to be her son. I think I’ll keep it hush hush about the whole being late thing, Safiya thought to herself. Robin got out of the car and walked over to Safiya. She looked very excited to see her.

“Hi Safiya! How’s the farm so far?” asked Robin cheerily. Safiya noticed that Robin couldn’t really pronounce her name but that’s something she could look past.

“So far so good” replied Safiya.

“Great! So me and my son Sebastian will help you move in all your belongings, so just tell us where you want things to go, okay?”. With that, Robin went to the back of the moving van to gather the boxes. Safiya noticed that Robin’s son was still in the passenger’s seat but now he was smoking a cigarette. He doesn’t look like he wants to be here, she thought I think I’ll go help Robin out. Safiya walked towards the van but Sebastian left the car before she even reached the van.

Soon after, Safiya was giving Robin directions on where to put certain items such as, the TV and sofa. Those were all pretty standard and they both had little trouble in that department.

“You have such cool taste in furniture Safiya” commented Robin. There she goes again, thought Safiya. Robin kept on pronouncing the fi in her name like the fi in fire; Safiya didn’t have the heart to correct her, Robin had been nothing but nice to her.

“Yeah it’s a little out of place in my grandfather’s home” said Safiya shyly. Her grandfather’s home was about to be furnished with a flat screen TV, a stereo with a good bass and the myriad of music equipment that Safiya owned.

Robin looked at the many photos in the house but one that caught her eye was a family portrait; there was a man, a woman, a boy who was the only one not smiling and two identical twin girls.

“Is this your family?” asked Robin, Mayor Lewis didn’t elaborate of Safiya’s family and to her the question didn’t seem offensive or brash.

“Oh! Uh, yeah” replied Safiya with a slight waver in her voice.

“If you don’t mind me asking, what are your parent’s names?”

“Nisha and Arvind” Safiya answered. Robin smiled at her reply, the way Safiya pronounced her parents names was so pleasing to hear, it rolled off her tongue beautifully. She wanted to know more but at the same time she felt like she asked Safiya enough questions.

As the two were talking Sebastian entered the house carrying two boxes that looked heavy.

“Is there a desk somewhere where I set your computer up?” he asked

“Oh yeah, uh, let me lead the way” replied Safiya softly. Unbeknownst to her Robin was grinning from ear to ear.

When they both got to the bedroom Safiya watched Sebastian set up her computer with little to no trouble at all. She was amazed at the fact that she didn’t have to direct him to do anything which means less work for her. He was a young man, very slim and not too muscular. His skin was very pale as if he’s never seen the sun and his hair was jet black. Even though he looked vastly different from Robin she could tell they were both related. After setting up her computer he left the bedroom to fetch more boxes. Safiya didn’t really know what to say to him. So far the mayor and Robin were very friendly people but Sebastian seemed almost standoffish. Safiya looked around her room. Sooner or later it’ll look more like her ideal living space. Sebastian returned with a slightly smaller box that had the word ‘music’ written on it and without thinking he dropped it on the floor.

“Be careful with that!” Safiya yelled. Sebastian stepped back a little bit; he didn’t know that she could yell that loud. She quickly rushed to the box and opened it up to check if something was broken. Luckily her MIDI controller was still intact and her ukelele was just fine. Sebastian looked over at the strange contraption that Safiya was holding. It was a square shaped machine that was covered in many buttons and on its side were multiple outlets. Sebastian felt a pang of guilt, that gadget looked expensive and if he broke it could spell trouble for him.

“I’m really sorry..” he mumbled, Sebastian didn’t really know her but he didn’t want to see her upset especially knowing that he could potentially break something expensive and dear to her.

“Uh it should be no problem” said Safiya reassuringly “But I have to plug it to my computer and see if still works”. Sebastian winced a bit, he really hoped that the device still worked.

Safiya carefully put the MIDI controller on her desk where she knows it won’t fall off and went back to the box to find a strange wire that looked like you can plug it into the computer; the wire also had two other wires coming out of it. This whole setup was simultaneously confusing and interesting to him. Safiya plugged the USB part into the computer and when she plugged the other two wires into the device the buttons started to light up in different colors. That immediately intrigued Sebastian; he edged a bit closer to her. Safiya then clicked on a program on the computer and what she did next left him stunned. It looked like Safiya was pressing random buttons there was a pleasant tune coming from the device; it was now his turn to be amazed. He’s seen people play the guitar and drums but knowing that this particular device can make music too really astounded him. Safiya turned around and saw that Sebastian was slightly closer to her which surprised her.

“Oh! I’m really sorry I got a little bit carried away” she said rubbing the back of her neck

“Why are you apologizing? You didn’t do anything wrong” Sebastian replied

“I’m not really as good as I used to be”

“Used to be?”

“Yeah this was kinda, sorta, maybe my hobby when I had a lot of freetime” Safiya said nervously. Sebastian was at a loss for words, she did this as a hobby and her skills weren’t rusty at all. Safiya felt really nervous he was looking at her but he wasn’t saying anything.

“What are your hobbies?” she asked to break the silence.

“Oh I play a lot of videogames and read comics” he replied “It’s not as cool as what you do though”. Safiya laughed a little, _So he’s the geeky type_ , she thought. There were a lot of guys she knew back in the city that were into things like that. She always wanted to read a comic or play a videogame, but she could never find the time to take up a new pastime.

“Videogames are pretty cool” she said affirmatively “I don’t really read a lot of comics but I wish I had the chance to”. Sebastian tensed less; she didn’t ridicule his hobbies which was comforting. “You set up my computer pretty fast” she commented “I didn’t really have to tell you what to do or anything”

“Oh, yeah, I’m really good with computers, I’m sorta the person people go to when they have computer problems” he replied.

“The town tech support?”

“Yes the town tech support” Sebastian said laughing a little. She seemed easy going enough and that made the whole socialization thing easier for him. “I’m also a freelance programmer, I prefer it much more than being you know, the town tech support”. Safiya looked impressed; she knew how to work computers and the like but to actually know how to program was something that was way beyond her.

“That’s actually really cool” she admitted to Sebastian.

“You could say that” he replied with a smug tone. Safiya gave a small laugh, she didn’t mean to stroke his ego. She at least got on his good side. He’s actually pretty easy going, she thought. Safiya walked over to the box and pulled out her ukulele and its stand and placed it to the right of her desk. Sebastian watched her as she walked back and forth from the box to an area close to her desk to set up what looked like her mics. Sebastian never knew that she sang as well; this girl was full of surprises.

“There’s one more box in the van and it’s pretty big, if you don’t mind can you help me carry it?” asked Sebastian. Safiya nodded in agreement and followed him outside of the bedroom. Robin saw the both of them and when the left the farmhouse she whispered a “yes, finally” and went right back to moving Safiya’s furniture as per Safiya’s request. Safiya and Sebastian carried the slightly larger box and walked right back to her bedroom.

“What’s in the box anyway?” asked Sebastian.

“My keyboard”

“You play another instrument!?” asked Sebastian surprised this time. Sebastian didn’t know what else to say to her. This person with significant music skill decides to move to a sparsely populated town. She mentioned doing this as a hobby and he wondered if she performed at bars or the like. He then gently set the box down. Safiya started setting up the keyboard at the foot of her bed and looked around at her room. It looked like someone merged a music studio and a bedroom together and it’s the way she liked it.

“So.. um” Sebastian said trying to remember her name, his mom mentioned her name a lot but the pronunciation changed every single time. “I didn’t really catch your name, Sofia is it?”

“No it’s actually, Safiya” she corrected him. Sebastian winced, he got her name wrong and she probably was going to make fun of him for it. He messed up something as basic as someone’s own name. “I know my name can be a little tricky to pronounce” said Safiya solemnly. “Kinda wish I had a different name actually”. Sebastian gave her a concerned look, knowing someone’s name wasn’t a burden at all.

“Probably because people never bothered to try” Sebastian interjected. He didn’t know why he did that. “How do you pronounce it?”

Safiya spent the next few minutes enunciating her name to Sebastian and although it was a little bit frustrating for her, it was also really considerate of him to actually sit down and learn her name.

“So it’s Safiya” he said slowly hoping to get it right.

“Yes that’s it” she said smiling. Her grin was contagious, Sebastian started smiling too. Sebastian dwarfs Safiya in height and he contrasted her in appearance. Her skin was golden brown whereas he was extremely pale. He noticed that she had a small button nose and full lips. Her brows were full and thick and so was the hair on her head. He didn’t know many girls that looked like her, Pelican Town wasn’t super diverse.

“The furniture is done!” said Robin in a singsong voice. Sebastian jumped a bit, he didn’t realise how much time has passed and how quickly Robin suddenly appeared in Safiya’s room.

“Well I guess it’s time for me to go” said Sebastian to Safiya. She nodded and walked him to her front door.

“Oh by the way Safiya, if there’s anything wrong please give me a call” urged Robin as she wrote down her phone number. Safiya accepted the number and glanced over at Sebastian who was lighting up a cigarette. “Well, we’ll be off now, remember call me if you need anything” added Robin as she walked over to her car. Safiya watched as both the van and Robin’s car left the farm and pondered on what just happened.

* * *

“Safiya’s a nice girl don’t you think?” asked Robin driving back to her home

“I barely know her other than the fact that she makes music on her freetime” replied Sebastian annoyed.

“You spent a lot of time together though.”

“You asked!”

“Because you need to come out of your shell more, Sebby!”

Sebastian sighed, he knew his mom wanted the best for him but he didn’t like being dragged out to meet someone he barely knew and to initiate a conversation with them. He always felt like he had to plan what to say to others and drained him a lot. After this he might need another smoke.

“Mom” he said calmer this time, “You pronounce the fi in Safiya like the word fee not like the fi in the word fire”. Robin looked over at her son and smiled to herself. The sun began to set transitioning the day into night. As Robin pulled up to the driveway, Sebastian immediately left the car and went back into the house.

* * *

Safiya was nervous about tomorrow’s flower dance. She didn’t know what it was actually about and she’ll have to meet everyone there. Safiya felt a weird pain in her stomach. _Should I just sit this one out and just say I was sick?_ She asked herself. It would be really rude to just skip out on something that the entire town was going to and the Mayor invited her to go. Safiya barely knew anyone besides Sebastian and Robin. _What am I even supposed to do there?_ Thought Safiya. The beautiful sunset transitioned to nightfall and Safiya decided to just have chips for dinner and ponder about the flower dance tomorrow.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Another chapter! I'm a lil more nervous about this one I felt like it went a bit slow compared to the first chapter ^^; but yeah Safiya makes a lot of electronic music and plays the ukulele and keyboard on the side. Her music is a little bit like alextbh and aliashawarma on soundcloud. I don't really see her being a huge fan of dubstep. As always, comments and critiques are greatly appreciated and thank you for taking time to read this!


	3. Tanning Since Birth

_Car rides are never fun for Safiya, she had to sit down for countless hours instead of running around. She was only six it’s not like staying still was ever in her vocabulary. But despite the seemingly endless car ride the scenery outside was breathtaking, Safiya had never seen so much green in her life; she couldn’t wait to run around in it._

_"_ _This is where your grandfather lives” said Safiya’s mom pointing outside the car “It’s called Stardew Valley”_

_“Mom why do they call it that?”_

_“Because the stars are always the brightest here” replied Safiya’s dad “I’ve never seen a place that could compare to Stardew Valley”. Safiya’s smile got bigger, she couldn’t wait to arrive on her grandfather’s farm._

_“You always ask such stupid questions, idiot” grumbled a teenager typing away at his phone._

_“Aamir, that’s no way to speak to your sister!” Safiya’s mom said firmly “She’s a young girl of course she’d be curious”_

_“And asking questions does not make anyone an idiot” Safiya’s dad added. The teen groaned and continued typing on his phone not wanting to engage in this. Safiya sighed she didn’t expect her older brother to always be nice to her. Her parents always assured her that it’s normal for siblings to fight and that he’ll grow out of it one day. At least I have Laila, Safiya reminded herself. Safiya looked outside her window and continued staring at the lush green scenery. The city was beautiful yet there was an odd charm about the countryside. Safiya’s grandfather had always told her stories about creatures that inhabited Stardew Valley and she couldn’t wait to see if those tales were true._

_“Arvind I think you take a right here” said Safiya’s mom pointing to the road. Safiya’s dad nodded and turned right. Safiya turned and saw that Laila was still asleep; the ride must have made her really tired._

* * *

 The sound of Safiya’s alarm clock jolted her awake as she scrambled to turn the alarm off. She knew what today was and she was still indecisive about going. _I’m going to be the odd one out, I clearly don’t belong there,_ thought Safiya. She was still a newcomer and the whole town’s eyes would be on her and Safiya didn’t want that. For her, if things went her way she’d be in the background and not in everyone’s line of sight. Safiya sighed as she walked over to her bathroom. The idea that she can draw attention makes her feel uneasy; she wasn’t the type to stand out at all. As Safiya turned on the shower she started thinking about all the possible things that could happen at the event. _Maybe I’ll step on someone’s shoe and they’ll tell me to go to hell,_ she thought to herself. She knew that she was over exaggerating but she felt like everything will turn to shit if she were to go to the flower dance. When Safiya was done with her shower she had to do the second hardest thing: find an outfit to wear. Being stylish was the norm in Zuzu City but now that she moved to Pelican Town technically she could get away with just wearing a t shirt and jeans but she decided against that and wanted to dress up for the event. Safiya looked at the clothes she had, nothing really screamed flower dance. _I don’t have a lot of florals, maybe I’ll just avoid dark colors since it’s spring,_ Safiya thought. Safiya sifts through her clothes hoping to at least find one thing that’s acceptable, it’s not easy to find clothes for an occasion that she’s never been a part of. In the wardrobe Safiya finds a white top that her sister bought for her. It was something like a tank top but it cut off at the stomach area. Safiya was always adamant about not wearing this shirt out in public since she never felt like she could pull off something like that. _I don’t live in the city anymore, it should be okay to wear it,_ thought Safiya. Along with the top Safiya decided to wear high waisted skinny jeans with it and a tan overshirt. After picking her outfit Safiya decided to make breakfast, the only problem is, she still didn’t buy groceries. Safiya sighed and decided to eat more frozen food in place of a healthy breakfast that people in the countryside usually eat. As she heated up her food Safiya felt the buzz of her phone in her back pocket. It was Robin.

“Oh, hi Robin” Safiya answered. “How are you?”

“Hi Safiya!” replied Robin in a cheery tone, this time she pronounced her name correctly. “Today’s the flower dance and I hope to see you there okay?” Safiya felt even more nervous, now Robin expects her to be there and she really didn’t want to decline.

“Yeah I’ll see you there Robin, bye!”

“Okay hun! See you there!” said Robin with even more pep to her voice. Safiya hung up the call and sighed to herself. Robin was such a nice lady and if Robin was there then hopefully she would have someone to talk to. Safiya didn’t want to bother Sebastian that much, the guy looked like he valued his space anyway. Sebastian looked nervous when he first talked to her almost as if he was cautious and he spoke really softly. _He’s a very quiet guy, I wonder if he has friends?_ thought Safiya. Guys like Sebastian preferred to keep to themselves and be immersed in their own little world. The ding of the microwave broke Safiya’s train of thought and she quickly rushed to her microwave to get her breakfast. This was the third day she’s eaten frozen food and Safiya knew that she had to buy groceries. _If I have nothing tomorrow I’ll buy some stuff from the general store,_ Safiya said to herself, she really had to stop putting off buying groceries. As Safiya was eating her breakfast she went on her phone and checked her sister’s jojagram and saw a photo of her sister at another photoshoot. It was almost bittersweet, Safiya was extremely proud of her yet when she compares herself to her sister, she knows her sister lived a better life.

When her breakfast was done Safiya went outside and looked around at the farm. The air was cool and smelled sweet and there were flower petals floating in the air. Spring was always such a beautiful season to her but in the countryside she felt like its beauty was amplified. Zuzu City during spring was nice but there wasn’t a lot of green there, in fact trees were so few and far in between, there were more buildings than trees. Safiya took out her phone and snapped a photo of the scenery. She sent the photo to her sister and captioned _new home!_ on the photo. Knowing Laila she’d probably reply to the photo after her work, she was a very busy girl. Safiya looked at the farmhouse. It was quite spacious, it had four bedrooms including the master bedroom and three bathrooms. _Grandfather had such a big family and he actually wanted us to move in with him,_ thought Safiya. As she walked back into the farmhouse Safiya caught a glimpse of her mailbox which was filled to the brim with letters. _Oh yikes this looks like a nightmare,_ she thought to herself and went over to empty the mailbox. Strangely enough Safiya found a letter that was addressed to her. _This can’t be right I didn’t even give anyone my new address,_ she thought to herself but nevertheless she opened the letter. It was a letter from the mayor telling her about the time of the flower dance which was at 9am in the Cindersap Forest. Safiya remembered that he didn’t tell her so perhaps he decided to write her the letter as a reminder for her to go. She checked her watch: it was 9:05. _Oh shit it probably already started,_ she panicked and without much haste she ran towards the forested area of the town.

* * *

Safiya arrived at the venue out of breath and nervously looked around at what was going on and just as she expected people were already in their groups and she was the odd one out. Safiya had half a mind to go back to her farm and watch a movie whilst everyone had their fun. Before she could make a run for it Robin instantly recognised her and waved her over to where she was. _Fuck I’ve been spotted,_ Safiya thought to herself, she wanted to be anywhere but here.

“Safiya! I’m so glad you managed to come!” said Robin excitedly. Safiya noticed that there were two other women standing by her. A woman with green hair reached her hand out to Safiya.

“I’m Caroline and this is Jodi” she said as she gestured to the other woman with red hair, but hers was a little lighter than Robin’s.

“Ah hi there I’m Safiya” Safiya replied meekly. She felt so out of place at this event and she didn’t really know who to go to.

“My husband runs the general store so if you need anything feel free to stop by okay?” said Caroline, her tone sounded gentle almost welcoming and that put Safiya at ease for now, at least she knew the owner’s wife, that seemed like something at least.

“You should go introduce yourself to the other townspeople” suggested Robin with a huge grin on her face. Safiya felt her stomach turn she wanted to do anything but that.

Safiya began to walk over to the buffet table; everything looked mouthwatering. Safiya was fixated on the turkey that was at the middle of the table; she wanted a piece. _Maybe I’ll just eat throughout this entire flower dance,_ Safiya joked to herself but there was some truth to those thoughts. Safiya caught a glimpse of a man who was chowing down on a plate full of food. When he made eye contact he gave her a scowl and continued eating. Safiya felt a little uneasy, that man was definitely not friendly. Safiya took her plate of food and decided to eat away from the buffet table. _This feels like Laila’s modeling afterparties,_ thought Safiya as she slowly ate the turkey. She was sitting at a fairly isolated place and so far no one approached her.

“I don’t see why you’re so glum when you have a plate full of free food” said a voice behind her. Safiya quickly turned around and saw an older woman with blonde hair curly hair wearing purple eyeshadow.

“I...um”

“Eh no need to explain yourself you ain’t botherin’ anyone” she said again with a hint of laughter in her voice.

“Uh... um… what’s your name?” asked Safiya nervously she hoped she didn’t make a bad impression or anything.

“Name’s Pam, what about you kid?” the older woman asked.

“It’s Safiya” she replied a little bit more confidently.

“Huh. We don’t really get people like you comin round to these parts” said Pam in an inquisitive manner. “You know young city people”. Safiya expected the worst when she said that but her fears subsided when Pam clarified what she meant. Without any warning, Pam decided to leave to the buffet table to get more food. _I can’t really blame her, this food is actually really good,_ thought Safiya looking at her almost empty plate. Before she could leave to go get some more food she was stopped by the mayor.

“Safiya! What are you doing here all by yourself?” he asked with a hint of concern in his voice.

“Oh… I was just eating” Safiya replied solemnly. She couldn’t lie it felt a little demoralizing being outcasted from the community. The mayor couldn’t help but feel bad for her. In a town with a population of 32 people and his newest resident couldn’t mingle with the other townsfolk. Whenever he looked at her all he could hear all the things her grandfather said.

“You know… since it’s your first year you don’t have to actually take part in the flower dance” said Mayor Lewis.

“So I didn’t have to come?”

“Oh no! Not that at all!” he clarified. “The main event is the dancing and since you don’t really know anyone that well, you don’t have to dance if you don’t want to”. Safiya took a deep breath, she agreed that dancing with a stranger would stress her out.

“So… I’ll just sit out?” asked Safiya.

“Well you can watch it with someone you know, I’m sure Robin and her husband won’t mind”. Safiya nodded and thanked the mayor for clarifying the event for her. _He’s really looking out for me, why though?_ Safiya wondered as Mayor Lewis walked to the middle of the forest and turned on a microphone.

“Attention everyone!” Mayor Lewis announced “The flower dance is about to start, would the dancers please make it to the center”. Surely enough the dancers flocked to where Mayor Lewis was. Safiya recognised Sebastian even in the blue tux that he had to wear, she admitted that it was odd seeing him dance with another person; it was out of character for him.

_This is so cheesy_ thought Safiya as the dance started. The girls were swishing their skirts while the boys were bending their knees and moving their shoulders. Out of all the dancers the girl with blonde hair wearing a flower crown looked the most enthusiastic and everyone else ranged from just-trying-their-best to complete discomfort. Safiya glanced at Sebastian, he was dancing with a girl with purple hair, both of them look extremely uncomfortable together.

When the dance ended, the mayor returned to the center. _Another announcement?_ Thought Safiya. _The dance was already over what more is there to say?_

“Attention everyone!” Mayor Lewis said into the microphone. “I just want everyone to know that we have a new resident in Pelican Town”. _Oh fuck what is he doing!?_ Safiya thought panicking, she really didn’t want to be in the spotlight right now. “Her name is Safiya and she’ll be our new farmer” he said with a smile. The townsfolk all turned to look at her. Her heart started racing and she could feel herself sweating, there was nowhere to run at all. If there was one word to describe how Safiya was feeling right now it would be distressed; she felt as if their eyes were judging her.

“Oh so you’re the new farmer” said the blonde haired girl to Safiya. She wore a white dress like the other girls and looked at Safiya with curiosity. “You’re really tanned, how long do you go tanning?” Safiya was taken aback, the question sounded so blunt.

“I uh…”

“I gotta know, I feel like you go too often. How long do you tan?” Safiya didn’t like the question at all. What a rude girl.

“I’ve been tanning since birth” quipped Safiya. All that pent up anger from being messed with in the city really showed itself today. The townsfolk all looked at each other in disbelief, they didn’t know how sassy Safiya can be.

“Oh no wonder you look so overcooked” the blonde girl fired back. The townsfolk all anticipated Safiya’s response.

“You know… I know girls like you go tanning all the time and yet you can never glow as much as girls like me do” Safiya said with a smirk on her face “Shame that all you do is get burnt when you try though”. The blonde haired girl looked offended when she said that. Without a comeback she stormed off away from the venue. Safiya sighed and decided to leave the venue too, the day just got more and more exhausting. The townsfolk all look at each other in disbelief as Safiya walked away.

* * *

Even though Safiya felt extremely confident when she stood up to that rude girl she also felt like her energy had been sapped from her. _Why did I even bother going?_ Safiya asked herself _the whole town probably thinks I’m some overly aggressive brown bitch_. The day wasn’t even over yet and Safiya just wanted to isolate herself. Safiya walked to her bedroom and hid underneath her covers.

Safiya felt her phone ring and quickly picked up.

“Hey hun are you feeling alright?” Safiya immediately recognized that it was Robin’s voice and felt a bit calmer than she was before.

“I’m alright… I just feel like I should lay low for a bit” Safiya replied.

“No not at all!” said Robin with assurance in her voice, “You stood up for yourself and for that I’m proud of you”. It was a little odd for someone who wasn’t her mom to be proud of her but Safiya accepted it anyway. “I’m sending Sebby over to deliver you some stuff if you need it” Robin added. Safiya winced, Sebastian was the last person she wanted to see after calling out someone in a public place.

“Oh… uh I don’t wanna trouble him though” Safiya replied meekly.

“Don’t worry about it!” said Robin “He needs to get out of the house anyways”. Safiya felt even more nervous now. “Well that’s all I have to tell you, take care now Safiya” was all she heard before the call ended.

“Great now I’m having a reluctant guy over to my house” Safiya grumbled to herself. She didn’t want to bother Sebastian and she didn’t want to know what he thinks about her little outburst.

Safiya heard the sound of an engine outside her house. Out of curiosity she peeped outside her window. It was Sebastian. Safiya never knew that he owned a motorcycle she admitted he looked pretty cool with it, especially with the sunglasses he wore. _Maybe I’ll just pretend I’m not home and then maybe he’ll-_ Safiya’s thoughts were interrupted with the sound of knocking. Safiya made up her mind to answer it just to be polite, he did drive all the way out here to give her something. Granted, his mother probably badgered him to do it. Safiya left the safety of her bedroom to the vaguely less safe front door and opened it.

“Oh hey Safiya” Sebastian said looking at Safiya. She looked like she was bracing herself for something. “Are… you alright?”

“Eh I’ve been better” Safiya replied honestly.

“Is it about the thing with Haley?”

“Oh… that’s her name”

“Yeah, but don’t worry about it I don’t think she’ll mess with you for a long time” Sebastian assured her. Sebastian took out what appeared to be tupperwares with food in them and handed them to Safiya. They both walked into her house and moved over to the couch.

“I’ll admit… I’m impressed with how you handled her, no one would call her out on her bullshit” said Sebastian shyly. Safiya faced him, he didn’t think she was rude or awful which surprised her.

“I have a lot of pent up anger and then it just spilled out” said Safiya trying to calm down “In the city there are a lot of jerks and not much you can do about them”

“Oh shit… I can imagine”

“You have no idea, they just get all in your space and it’s just so exhausting”.

Sebastian made a face, she made the city sound like his own personal hell.

“People… can be so draining sometimes especially when you see them so many times a day, it can get so taxing” complained Safiya. Sebastians eyes got wide, he knew what that felt like.

“Yeah I feel, people just seem to take energy when you talk to them” he replied, somehow talking with her eased his anxiety.

“Right? I just want to be left alone sometimes and when people just get all up in your face, you just wanna snap at them”.

Sebastian laughed a little, she wasn’t as bad as he thought.

“Well you really had the balls to snap at Haley, you’re pretty fearless for a newcomer who doesn’t say much” he said crossing his arms and smirking. Safiya raised her eyebrow, she wouldn’t call herself the fearless type.

“Nah I’m not fearless, I just get tired of being pushed around” Safiya responded quieter this time. “And uh… the reason why I don’t say much is because I only really say something when I feel like I gotta say something important”. Sebastian nodded affirmatively. He looked around at the living room area and found a stack of magazines.

“I didn’t know you modeled?” Sebastian asked looking through the magazine pages.

“Oh… uh that’s not me that’s actually my twin” replied Safiya.

“You have a sister?”

“Yeah! She lives in the city, she’s actually doing a lot better than me right now” Safiya admitted. Sebastian looked at her, it was clear that this was something that bothered her.

“Ah… I feel actually, having someone more successful than you and you’re just… cast aside right?”. Safiya looked at Sebastian, he looked really agitated when he said that.

“My sister… she’s basically the golden child in my family, I feel like I can’t compete with her” he admitted. Those words heavily resonated with Safiya, she always felt like she was living in Laila’s shadow.

“I… try not to let it ruin my relationship with her though” Safiya added. “We’ve only got each other after all”. Sebastian wondered what she meant by that but he choose not to pry.

It was uncharacteristic of Sebastian to find someone to relate to in this town. Sure he had his best friend but his best friend could only listen, none of the words really resonated with him. Safiya kept to herself like him and didn’t like huge crowds like him, it was oddly refreshing to have someone that was a huge introvert like him. The two talked quite a lot about life, the valley and other miscellaneous things.They talked for several hours but to them it felt like thirty minutes. Sebastian felt a buzz in his pocket and checked his phone; it was his mom.

“Ah my mom wants me home, she made dinner tonight” Sebastian said as he smiled to himself.

“Does she usually make dinner?”

“Not really but when she does I make the effort to be there for dinner” he responded. Safiya nodded and walked with Sebastian to the front door.

“Oh… I almost forgot” Sebastian said as he pulled out his phone. “You only have my mom’s number right? You should have mine… incase you need stuff… and… my mom isn’t there”. Sebastian fumbled over his words and he didn’t look at Safiya as he said it.

“Oh thank you so much” Safiya said gratefully. She typed down her phone number on his phone and he did the same on her phone.

“So I’ll… I’ll see you around?” Sebastian said.

“Yeah I’ll see you around” Safiya replied with a smile on her face. Sebastian nodded and walked over to his motorcycle and put his sunglasses away in his hoodie. Safiya watched as he revved up his engine and started to drive away from the farm.

Safiya felt like her day got a little bit better after talking with Sebastian, he wasn’t pushy like other people and even though he was aloof to her at first eventually he let his guard down a little bit and actually had a proper conversation with her.

After all that, all Safiya wanted to do was relax so she went over to her laptop and went online to find a movie to stream, she felt like she needed to after the conundrum that happened today. _I think I’ll watch this movie_ Safiya said to herself. When she was about to click the link she heard her phone ring. _Damn.. I really can’t catch a break_ Safiya laughed to herself but when she saw the contact name, it was Laila. Safiya knew she wouldn’t get sleep tonight.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I was really MIA because of assignments I'm sorry about that ^^; but I finally completed another chapter! Hopefully my writing gets better. Saf can be a real bitch when she's pushed and I wanted to show that in this chapter. As always thank you for reading and comments and criticism is always really appreciated!


	4. More Complicated

_ Safiya heard her phone ring on a Saturday evening, at this time people were either going out or staying in and Safiya decided to do the latter. Safiya checked her phone it was her sister who called her. _

_ “Saf can I come over?” Laila asked. There wasn’t much emotion in her voice. _

_ “Oh sure what happened?” _

_ “I’ll tell you when I get there” Laila replied and ended the call. The call was so abrupt Safiya wondered what on earth happened, usually her sister can tell her anything through the phone. _

_ People now recognize Laila on the street and even ask her to sign magazine covers with her face on it. There were even times where Safiya couldn’t even talk to Laila because of how many projects she was involved in. Men were throwing themselves at her and hoping that one day she’ll notice them. Life was going well for her, unless there was something that Laila didn’t mention. _

_ Safiya was in the process of making some tea for herself when she heard a knock on the door. Outside was Laila, hair looked limp and her eyes were red and puffy; she looked like she didn’t sleep for weeks. _

_ “I made some tea do you want some?” asked Safiya trying to start a conversation. Laila simply nodded and walked inside. Something didn’t seem right. Laila was always lively and cheerful but today she looked like she got her soul sucked out of her. Her face was soft, tinged with sadness. Safiya wondered what was going on and what caused this. _

_ “I… um” was all Laila said before she sipped a little bit of the tea Safiya gave her. Safiya looked at Laila with an air of concern, it’s almost as if this was a completely different person rather than her own sister. _

_ “Laila, are you okay?” asked Safiya with concern in her voice. That did it. Tears started to pour from Laila’s eyes and all composure was lost. Laila curled up on Safiya’s couch and let out a wail of anguish, Safiya had never seen Laila in this light. _

_ “He still loves her” Laila uttered, her voice breaking as she wiped the tears that for some unfortunate reason would not stop flowing, it seemed endless. “He said that ever since she broke up with him, he felt like she left a void in his heart”. Safiya’s eyes fell to the table, her eyes glued to her cup of tea as Laila buried her face in her hands, her breathing heavy. Her sister was always laughing and smiling, looking at the bright side of things, if anything ever got to her, she would always be up and running the next day. Seeing her this way, so heartbroken and betrayed, Safiya felt like she was at a loss of what to do. _

_ She wasn’t used to not knowing how to be there for Laila. _

_ “I even asked  him,” Laila whispered, “if he was still in love with her, and he lied to me , and said that she was in his past.” She rubbed her temples and her face contorted as more tears began to stream down her cheeks. “What a fucking liar.” _

_ “I’m so sorry,” Safiya said dejectedly, her own voice quiet, “I don’t know what to say.” _

_ “He had the audacity if I’ve ever loved someone before, and that I could never understand pain if I’ve never loved someone.” Laila took a sip from her cup and for just the briefest moment, Safiya thought that her bubbly sister had never looked so small. “As if loving someone else was any  excuse to break someone else’s heart.” _

_ “Laila…” Safiya said, reaching out a hand. _

_ “I got played,” Laila replied bitterly, “I should have never expected for someone to care about me like that.” _

_ “You know that’s not —“ _

_ “People only like me because of my face,” Laila smiled sadly, but the anguish that touched her eyes quickly turned into something akin to revenge, “and pretty people like me don’t have feelings, right?” _

_ Safiya froze, her words unable to leave her throat, her lips. It was impossible to find something to say, to tell her sister that it was okay to grieve, it was okay to be human. Still, just by looking at the smile on her sister’s face, even she felt unnerved and afraid to say anything, fearful that it would light another fire. _

_ “If I am someone that they just want to sleep with, and they don’t want anything from me,” Laila smiled, “then so be it. I will do the same for them.” The corners of her lips spread, and for the first time in her life, Safiya truly felt like she was scared of her sister. _

_ “I will be ruthless. I will make them fall in love with me, and I will break them when they do.” _

_ “Yoba,” Safiya whispered, “I just… I —“ _

_ “Falling in love is such a joke,” her sister replied, “I will never care about someone like this ever again. I refuse to believe in a man again.” _

* * *

The conversation with Laila lasted a lot longer than their usual calls which was really saying something. Time didn’t seem to affect Safiya in the slightest, the conversation still went on to the point where Safiya was running to charge her phone to continue talking. Topics went from Laila’s modelling career to Safiya’s new home out in Stardew Valley.

“You always talked about how beautiful it looks and now here you are” Laila said exuberantly. Knowing that Safiya was in a better place than before really made Laila feel at ease. Sure Safiya was now further away from her but at least now she lived in a place with minimal stress and clean air.

“Yeah, Stardew Valley is really something, come visit when you can okay?” Safiya replied with a smile on her face. It felt like years since she’d actually had a conversation like this with Laila and talking to her again made her feel more comfortable and at ease with herself. More often than not, people assumed that Safiya hated her sister and was jealous of her success, fame and beauty but that couldn’t be further from the truth. Safiya always wanted to know what Laila was up to and would continuously ask her what she was doing and who she was working with.

Safiya looked out the window and noticed the sun peeking over the horizon.  _ Damn… were we talking for that long? _ Safiya thought as she paced around the farmhouse.

“L… the sun is up” said Safiya laughing to herself. Safiya didn’t know that she talked for this long, the conversation seemed really short.  

“Ah shit, I have a shoot today” Laila said realising the time as well. “But it’s later in the afternoon, I’ll set an alarm, it’s no big deal”.

“Good luck sis, you’ll be amazing”

“Thanks Saf” Laila said ending the call. It was going to be an eventful day for Laila and Safiya couldn’t be more proud of her sister.

Safiya’s eyes looked outside of the window. The sky was rose pink and the sun was peeking over the horizon. A couple of minutes ago, the area was enveloped by the night and now Safiya can hear the sound of birds chirping signaling a new day. Safiya took out her phone and decided to capture the moment. Moments like these make Safiya appreciate nature more and envy that her grandfather got to see this sight everyday.

_ Fuck, I have to buy groceries today _ , Safiya thought to herself. She had been putting off her groceries ever since the flower dance but now that she had the whole day to herself she could go out and do her errands. Knowing that she didn’t sleep the whole night Safiya knew that she had to be careful and not exhaust herself today. She could always sleep at home, it wasn’t like she was expecting people today.

What really bugged Safiya about this town was that she couldn’t go buy food late at night or rather whenever she wanted. The city never had a shortage of convenient stores and Safiya always vacated those places to get a cheap meal or a snack. Right now, she had to make do with what she had. Safiya decided to go at 10am which gave her enough time to sleep. Safiya set an alarm for 9:30, which gave her enough time to shower and get ready for the day. Ideally, Safiya would have slept for longer but her conversation with Laila kept her up all night, not like she minded anyway, she always had time for her twin sister. Safiya laid on her couch and her eyes closed as she drifted off to sleep.

The obnoxious beeping sound of her phone’s alarm startled Safiya awake. Safiya fell off the sofa and grabbed her phone to turn the offending alarm off. Sleeping for four hours wasn’t the same as sleeping for the needed eight hours and Safiya felt the effects of that. She felt more groggy and sluggish and she wanted to sleep for another five hours.  _ Ugh I really gotta do this _ , Safiya said to herself. Safiya hadn’t had a proper meal that she made herself since she moved in and she knew she couldn’t just eat microwavable food that she bought from Zuzu City.

Safiya tried to turn on the her shower but her hands felt shaky and her focus was off. If she could she would nap in her shower but Safiya knew what she had to do today and right now the focus was going to the general store. Safiya tried to pick up the shower gel but it slipped out of her hand and Safiya groaned in annoyance. Shampooing her hair was even worse, since she had a lot of hair to deal with and to make matters even more worse she got shampoo in her eyes. “No tears my ass!” she grumbled out loud, this day didn’t start out great and she hoped that no one approached her today. When Safiya exited her shower she rinsed the soap out of her eyes and decided to check it in the bathroom mirror. Her eyes were still red and to top it off her circles under her eyes were really dark.  _ Ugh I look awful _ , she thought to herself. Finding clothes took less time than showering as Safiya didn’t want to waste more time and just wanted to get her groceries and then sleep. She decided to wear a t-shirt and shorts and decided not to do anything with her hair.

Safiya rubbed her eyes as she sauntered over to the produce section of the general store. She decided to buy some rice, chicken and a couple vegetables. Safiya looked over at the price of spices and her eyes nearly popped out of her head.  _ That… that’s so expensive _ , she thought to herself  _ I’ll go broke if I even buy half of what I want _ . With her bag filled with what she needed Safiya decided to go to the counter. The clerk had a stern look on his face, an almost no-nonsense demeanor about him. The man wasn’t tall but he looked like someone you shouldn’t mess with. Safiya felt herself feel more and more anxious.

“Oh, you’re the new farmer, Safiya right?” said the man. His tone was unexpressive, Safiya couldn’t tell what he was thinking.

“Yeah I am actually” Safiya murmured “I moved in three days ago.”

“You made quite the entrance, you really let Haley know how you felt didn’t you”. Safiya winced at that comment. The last thing she wanted was to be known as the girl who sassed out the flower queen. The man examined Safiya’s face and gave her a concerned look. “Your eyes are really red, are you alright?” he asked. Safiya felt her face turn red and she shifted uncomfortably.

“Oh… soap got into my eyes, it’s nothing too serious” Safiya said defensively. Safiya didn’t know what she was trying to justify, the man made her feel like she had to stand up straight and be on her best behavior. The man simply nodded as Safiya paid for her groceries and just as she was about to leave she heard the sound of a door open and out came a girl with purple hair. The man suddenly tensed and sighed.

“Abigail, where are you going today?” he asked but his tone sounded interrogative. The girl rolled her eyes at him and scowled.

“I’m going over to Seb’s I’ll be back by dinner dad” she said snippily “Ugh stop hounding with these questions it’s so annoying!”. Before the man could say anything she was already out the door. The man sighed and pinched his nose bridge. He mumbled something to himself and turned his attention to Safiya.

“I’m sorry you had to witness that” he said apologetically. “Abigail is… quite a handful”. Safiya nodded and looked at the door.  _ She knows Sebastian? _ She thought to herself. “She’s always at that boy’s house” he said in disgust. “Always causing mischief along with that other boy”. Safiya blinked when he said that, she never saw Sebastian as a troublemaker, he was always so withdrawn; he didn’t like drawing attention to himself.

“It’s no problem sir” Safiya responded as she carried her groceries. The man didn’t say it but Safiya deduced that Abigail is his daughter by the way he spoke to her.

“Oh I almost forgot, my name is Pierre and please come again” the man interjected. Safiya nodded and walked off to her house. She was glad she got one thing done.

* * *

Sebastian was working hard on a project a client had asked of him. Recently, he had gotten a lot more clients than usual and he was okay with that. It always comforted him that he didn’t have to see his clients face to face and instead they can always message him about any problems or concerns they have. He was always proud of this craftsmanship even though it was purely digital. Sebastian was so engrossed in his work that he didn’t even notice Abigail walking into his room. Abigail sighed and walked over to where he was sitting and tapped on his desk. Sebastian flinched and looked over at Abigail. He sighed and continued on working.

“Seb, you can’t ignore me forever you know” said Abigail in an annoyed tone. She walked all the way from her dad’s general store to his house and hoped that at least he’d at least talk to her.

“I’m working Abby” he replied curtly still focusing on his computer.

“Doesn’t mean you can’t talk to me”

“Abby, I don’t have time for this” Sebastian said with more annoyance in his voice. “I’ve got five projects from five different people and I want to get them done as soon as possible”. Abigail groaned and laid down on his sofa. She continued to look at him work and decided to go on her phone idly waiting for him to pay attention to her. Sebastian looked over at Abigail and saw that she looked bored on her phone. He knew that his mom told him that she’d come by anyway even though right now he’d rather be alone but he couldn’t help but feel bad. Sebastian took a deep breath and decided to start a conversation.

“Did your dad give you a hard time because you’re at my place again?” Sebastian asked quietly hoping that he didn’t lose focus on his work.

“Eh well he always does” Abigail replied still on her phone. “So now you wanna talk?”

“Well you’re here so might as well”

“Sebby! You’re so cold” Abigail said in a whiny voice. Sebastian wrinkled his nose when she called him that.

“My mom calls me Sebby” Sebastian said annoyed at Abigail.

“Ugh fine then, Seb”

“Much better” Sebastian said approvingly. He continued to type away at his keyboard and talk to Abigail. He couldn’t focus as much as he liked but hopefully when she leaves he can focus solely on his work with no distractions. Abigail on the other hand had other plans.

“If you need a break why don’t come over to the coach” proposed Abigail suggestively. Her hands wandered over to his shoulders massaging them slowly.

“And do what?” he asked trying to be unwary of her advances.

“Do I really have to spell it out for you?” Abigail replied exasperatedly. “You know we don’t have to date to  _ — _ ”

“Enough Abigail”

“Your parents rarely come by here and ever since that incident with Maru I highly doubt she’ll see us  _ — _ ”

“Abigail I said enough!” Sebastian said with more hostility. Abigail flinched in surprise. Sebastian had never seemed this upset over something like this. Sebastian sighed as he rubbed his temples he didn’t want to go over this again.

“Just because I need time away from you doesn’t mean I hate you, you know” Sebastian said trying to reassure her. Abigail pulled a face and continued to go on her phone.

“You used to want it more than I do you know” she replied calmly. She looked over at Sebastian and saw that he made eye contact as well. Sebastian sighed and walked over to her, halting his work for the time being.

“Yeah I guess but I feel different now, I just want a normal friendship” he admitted shyly.

“Ugh this just isn’t my day” Abigail groaned. “First the new farmer had to see me and my dad fight and now you want to push me away”. Sebastian focused more when Abigail mentioned the new farmer.

“Oh you mean Safiya?”

“Yeah, her” she replied dismissively. “You actually know her?”

“Not well, my mom made me help her out with moving and stuff”

“Uh huh” Abigail replied suspiciously “Does she have anything to do with this whole thing?”

“What? No!” Sebastian said defensively “I barely know anything about her to have an opinion on her”. Abigail nodded suspiciously and continued to go on her phone.

“I’m probably going to leave in a few Seb” Abigail said cooly. “Have fun doing work”. Sebastian stopped working and noted how malicious she sounded when she said that.

“Okay then” he said unbothered. He didn’t have time to deal with Abigail and he really just wants to be left alone for the day. Abigail stormed out of his room and slammed the door roughly. He groaned and continued to do more work.

Sebastian couldn’t help but felt a pang of remorse when Abigail left his room. He remembered that she told him that things won’t be complicated and she looked serious; she meant it. If only he had just ignored how he really felt and just continued on with what they had. Things would have been much easier then. Lately he felt like she didn’t just want to be just friends.

“Sex makes everything complicated” he said to himself as he continued to finish up his client’s project. Sebastian knows work won’t completely get his mind off of things but it was worth a shot.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> It's been a while since I wrote a chapter but I hope this one is a lot better than the last chapter. I might revise the 3rd chapter ^^;   
> Thank you all for reading so far! I really appreciate it!


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